Insurance broker sentenced for bilking fees from San Rafael nonprofit

A Sacramento insurance salesman received a two-year sentence Wednesday for stealing extra fees from a San Rafael-based nonprofit.

Russell Joseph Sage, 39, was accused of bilking $30,000 from Center Point Inc., the San Rafael-based provider of substance abuse rehabilitation services.

Sage sold the nonprofit a $500,000 workers' compensation policy in 2012. The prosecution said he billed the nonprofit for broker's fees that were already included in the policy.

Sage pleaded guilty in February to theft by false pretense, said Deputy District Attorney Thomas McCallister.

Sage is still facing time in a different insurance fraud and money laundering case in Yolo County. He returns to court there on Thursday to receive a combined sentence of six years and four months in the two cases, said Jonathan Raven, a Yolo County prosecutor.

The combined sentence for the nonviolent offenses will be split between jail time and a parole-like period of supervision.

Sage surrendered his professional licenses last year, according to the California Department of Insurance website.

Reached on his cellphone Wednesday afternoon, Sage said he was sorry for the Center Point theft and blamed his gambling problems. He said he has been accepted into a Los Angeles rehabilitation center that specializes in gambling addiction.